Petitions

Petitions are one way people can let us know their concerns.

All petitions sent or presented to the council will be
acknowledged within 5 working days. This will say what we plan to
do with the petition and when the person who created it can expect
to hear from us again.

If your petition has received 12,675 signatures or more it will
automatically be referred to a meeting of the Full Council for
debate. If this is the case, we will let you know the date of the
meeting where this will take place.

Online petitions

If you would like to set up an online petition, you will need to
provide us with your name, home address and email address. You will
also need to decide how long you would like your petition to be
open for signatures. Most petitions run for 6 months, but you can
choose a shorter or longer timeframe, up to a maximum of 12
months.

When you create an e-petition it may take 5 working days before
it is published online. This is because we have to check the
content is suitable before it is made available for anyone to
sign.

When an e-petition has reached its deadline and closed, it will
automatically be sent to the Head of Democratic Services.

How will the council respond to petitions?

Our response to a petition will depend on what a petition asks
for and how many people have signed it, but may include one or more
of the following:

taking the action requested in the petition

considering the petition at a council meeting

holding an inquiry or taking research into the matter

holding a public meeting or consultation

holding a meeting with the petitioners

referring the petition to one of the council's Overview and
Scrutiny Committees for consideration

calling a referendum

writing to the lead petitioner, setting out our views about the
request in the petition

As a general rule, the lead petitioner will receive a
response from the council, usually within 10 working days, which
will explain the action the council proposes to take.

What can I do if I feel my petition has not been dealt with
properly?

If you have created a petition and feel we have not dealt with
it properly, you have the right to request that one of the
council's Overview and Scrutiny Committees reviews the steps the
council has taken or is proposing to take.

You should notify the Head of Democratic Services within 10
working days of receiving a final response, with reasons why you
feel it is inadequate and that you wish to request a review.

The relevant Overview and Scrutiny Committee will consider your
request at the next available meeting.

Should the committee decide we have not dealt with your petition
properly, it may use any of its powers to deal with the matter.
These powers include starting an investigation, making
recommendations to the Cabinet or arranging for the matter to be
considered at a meeting of the Full Council.

For more information, the full version of the
Petitions Scheme can be found in Part 1, Chapter 4, of the
council's Constitution